RDC was among the companies sued last month by the New York Attorney General's Office, a lawsuit targeting businesses that Attorney General Letitia James alleged fueled the opioid epidemic that has claimed more than 200,000 lives nationally.

Also sued were manufacturers of painkilling opioids, including the Sackler family and its company, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin.

In a story Monday, The New York Times reported: "Now, in what could be a test case, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the DEA are wrapping up an investigation that appears likely to result in the first criminal case involving a major opioid distributor, Rochester Drug Cooperative, one of the 10 largest, people familiar with the matter said."

In August, RDC spokesman Jeff Eller said of the investigation, "We are talking with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York about their concerns and hope to have a resolution soon." On Monday Eller said he could not comment further

While The Times bases its knowledge on anonymous sources, the information about the investigation aligns with earlier reporting from the Democrat and Chronicle.

"The investigation began with an examination of possible crimes including wire and mail fraud and various drug violations, according to three people with knowledge of a federal grand jury subpoena served in Rochester in 2017, but it remains unclear what charges might be brought," The Times reported.

RDC's former chief executive officer, Laurence Doud III, claims in a lawsuit against RDC, its top administrators, and members of its board of directors that he was forced out of the company as a scapegoat for the DEA investigation.

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In March 2017, the lawsuit states, the Justice Department's civil branch referred to its criminal branch a continuing investigation into RDC's alleged non-compliance with federal pharmaceutical reporting laws. The DEA subpoenaed company documents "regarding controlled substances, customer due diligence, suspicious order monitoring and reporting" and other aspects of its business, according to the lawsuit.

In November 2017 a federal grand jury subpoenaed additional records, the lawsuit says.

This is not the first federal investigation into RDC. In 2015 RDC admitted that it had failed to report drug sales and the theft of painkilling opioids to the DEA. The company paid $360,000 to resolve the civil action against it.

In recent years, RDC's distrtbution operations have swelled in size.

"Between 2010 and 2018, Rochester Drug sold more than 143 million oxycodone pills to its customers in New York," according to the Attorney General's lawsuit.